Major Assignment #2, Draft #2

‘’Do video games benefit modern society?’’

‘’Video games have a great positive potential in addition to their entertainment value and there has been considerable success when games are designed to address a specific problem or to teach a certain skill.’’ Griffiths 2002

The purpose of this paper is to show that video games help to accelerate the acceptance process in virtual communities and to show how they facilitate the development of social skills when used as learning material. It is also important to me to reflect on how game technology has intervened in the community; how it provides aid as an alternative means to deprivation of contact with members of our community and to explore the potential impact of COVID-19 on loneliness and well-being. There is also particular curiosity to explore and demystify false truths regarding the playtime of video games. ‘’ Korean-born Fluxus artist Nam June Paik is credited with having made the first pieces of Video Art (Atkins R. 2013).’’ With more grasp for technology and innovation, people become naturally more inquisitive and more demanding. Twenty years ago, games were limited and so required less from players, and as time went by, games improved alongside with technology. Today, games demand from players greater skills, greater movements, and body harmony. Interestingly, technological advancements made old games even more accessible. Who does not remember playing Solitaire on Windows 98? Now, among a variety of game genres, people also through their smartphones can learn games like chess and checkers. Gaming is also responsible for a great part of the boost in technology that we have seen in the last 15 years, mainly in CPU's, graphics cards, or faster storage devices. On the other hand , when video games are mismanaged or done poorly, it may happen one will find video games such as Grand Theft Auto V in the hands of an 8-year-old, which in turn, promotes negative, and criminal-like behaviors from children , particularly if they are not supervised,  - which often is the case. In what follows, some of the findings that have come from this research study shall be listed, and hopefully it will bring clarity on a few key points that I have been considering in recent times.

Our most brilliant ideas come from the same place where bad ideas are fabricated, that is the hippocampus. Located in the medial region, it plays a critical role in the way it organizes and stores our memories as well as it connects certain sensations and emotions to these memories. Playing games brings a better correlation between these aspects. In fact, people play games because they can be challenging, fun, and conducive to social interaction with other gamers.

It is quite conspicuous that video-games have proven themselves to have both good and bad aspects, however, as in everything else, its results will exclusively depend on how one chooses to use it. What end is it for? Is it just for the sake of entertainment? Video games are not inherently good or bad. Psychologists have been studying the impact of video games on the brain ever since the late 1980s, and many studies have been consentingly proving that games should be played for longer periods. 

Following the TED Talks of game designer Jane McGonigal, in the presentation on ‘’The game that can give you 10 extra years of life’’, she mentions that after suffering a traumatic brain concussion and seeing herself struggle with lack of focus and determination, began decided to develop a different game genre. Resulting from, her determination, the game called ‘’Super Better’’ came to be. This particular game involved participants from all over the world. In retrospective, this particular study shows they were able to develop better focus skills allowing, even, patients of cancer, chronic pain, depression, Crohn’s Disease, Alzheimer’s and of terminal disease subjects as ALS patients, to tap into a sense of control and experience other sense of freedom. These games are beneficial because the whole family benefits; being a valuable tool for optimal managing relationships. Furthermore, according to Julie McGonigal, who ended up pursuing a Ph.D.  in Performance Studies, in ‘’Why we are better in games than we are in real life’’ expresses the need for more gameplay, and more and for better game developers. In the TED talk ‘’Why we are better in games than we are in real life’’ she underlines that when players express the ability to feel the joys and positive stimuli, drawn from participating in games, a gamer’s purpose is the win, therefore displaying that demeanor of an ''epic win attitude'' which is a key characteristic a player should have. Furthermore, she instills us to have more of those experiences, urging for a need to begin playing, collectively especially nowadays, to ensure that we are assertively tackling issues such as poverty, obesity, climate change, hunger, and global conflicts. Jane McGonigal also transmits the need for the individual to reach a place of blissful productivity; one in which the player is better skilled at internalizing the sense of urgent optimism, besides developing a better social fabric (collaboration plus connection), and of an ''epic win'' demeanor as mentioned in the above paragraphs.

‘’The digitalization of the real world to a new informational layer over objects, people or environments, needs to be processed and mediated by tools that amplify the natural human senses.’’(GOUVEIA P. 2008) There are many different game genres, among them we have those which help improve physical responses and the cognitive abilities in different areas of the mental spectrum, for example, racing games help with a players intuition, while fast-paced games such as fighting games will help (motor skills) with reflexes, twitch shooters, also known as arcade shooters, those will also help with reflexes, and tactics. In tactics, the developing of short term planning skills are detected, for example in grand strategy games, or other strategy games those help to potentiate abilities, such as better planning skills, these benefits come from practicing the same game genre for a period of time, however the player does not need to be a full-time video game player, it just so happens that for the more often you get to do something, the better you get at it and at anything else that uses similar skills or knowledge. 

In another similar study posted on the ‘’Esquire’’ by Sarah Rense, her approach to video games is that not only will those halt the progression of the disease but also reverse the effects of dementia, thus dedicating time to gameplay that promotes growing the cognitive abilities result from engaging in those particular genres of games improving different areas of a person’s mental abilities, a good example is racing games.

Video games can also function as an academic resource. Professors in Europe have been using video games in a closed environment to teach EFL and ELF in several universities for the last ten to fifteen years. Legendary classic, known for its simple pixel graphics is Minecraft, - for example used even now in academic projects for studying and helping students to learn and perfect their skills.  Players also take advantage of applications such as Skype, Facebook messenger, Twitch, and Discord. Those are heavily used for chatting among gamers and pro-gamers stream their gameplays for other gamers to learn how to play certain games. Many do discuss team tactics and make friends during gameplay such as when playing Fortnite, League of Legends, among others.

When we have a video-game that reaches a certain quality or threshold to real-life mechanisms, as is the case of World of Warcraft used as a research project for economics, – the result of the mission entailed the spread of a virus (disease) by seeing how the players would react and experience it as the virus was being spread to other players, this ‘’bug’’ caused a phenomenon which scientists used as study material for how the population might react in real life to a pandemic.

Video-games are still a creative work of art large enough to become a part of our culture, and it could even become the influence to evolve our culture too. The military, for example, uses video games to train their soldier's certain other jobs, such as air force pilots that also use video games to train -although the correct term here is "simulation software’’ and sometimes such software is released to the public in the form of a video- game. ‘Arma’ for example, now in its third installment, was one such software that started as simulation software for the military and it was later released to the public as a video game because they needed a more accurate simulation and, in the case of RPG (Role playing Games). The computer game ‘‘Second Life’’ can also be used as a social platform. Second Life  is a game that mimics real life, its game platform includes: hosting social events, such as parties, marriages, divorces, dating programs, baby gender reveals, land acquisition,  organizing museums/historic events, also advertisement of real-world products, as already done there.

‘’Avatars will become more realistic, says Mark Stephen Meadows, as noted, people instinctively want their avatars to became real. And the developers, designers, and builders of avatar systems are trying to render reality as fiction (Meadows, 2008).’’ Video games, if created well they achieve enough success, it can and will evolve our culture, and promote better cognitive health. However, it is important to bring balance , and exercise will also help promote a healthy cognitive function, so ideally speaking, the healthiest lifestyle you can obtain is one full of proper exercise, about 1 hour of engaging video games daily, and a healthy diet. It is not required that you be a full-time video game player to take on these benefits merely playing for one hour per day. Anything in excess will bring lesser positive outcomes, ‘’ Our body is on this side" of the window, suffering back pain and retinal persistence from moving images. Regular players may suffer from tendinitis, muscle and skin problems (Gunther, 2005).’’

Analyzing,  video-games which encourage the player to take on a route deemed as criminal in any real-life society as is the case of the notorious  Sleeping Dogs or the Mafia saga, or highly competitive games such as the ultimate GTA V, Fortnite or League of Legends, and any games to do with grouping peoples into certain types of teams, for example, nationality and sports, those last ones all promote negative influences and negative communities, which in turn means that video games should be handled with common sense, respect and care.

Games can be used as academic study material, or even be used as research material, as it is the case with this study at hand. They will further be used as simulation software to train certain skills, however, like all good things, there are downsides to it too. As much as video games can promote a very good and strong positive influence on our daily lives they can still be used as a negative influence.

In the following survey I interviewed a parent of two, ages 14 and 15, in his mid-thirties.

Q. What do you feel about the transition of video-gaming (e.g. Super Mario vs. another that creates contrast to you)?

A. Take a glimpse at Red Dead Redemption 2. It is the best in terms of graphics, plot, gameplay, and striking Wild West appeal. It’s the best one can get; however, it won't be able to capture the thrill of playing something as compelling as Prince of Persia's very first release from the late 80's.

Q. To what extent do you think games influence violent behaviors, in other words, what experience and lessons your kids learned and assimilated from playing video games?

It all depends on how we raise them. Given we provide them with the knowledge and perspective of video games that we have, we can influence them to be good citizens despite the games they play.

Q. When playing online games, what is the negative aspect that you would say it is most alarming?

The worst part?

A. Let me tell you. Cyber bullying and harassment occur irrespective of one’s gender. It will always exist and will seep in through the cracks, whether it is a male or female. However, there is an undeniable stereotype that women don’t play video games like Fortnite, League of Legends, for instance, and for the most part, players that play this game genre are male; therefore, end up exhibiting considerable cyber bullying, and harassment, towards women. In fact, it is also a reason that, according to two of my in-game teammates, many women end up opting for the use of male-sounding usernames.

Q. Why, in your opinion, is there this stereotype?

A. This behavior exists for obvious reasons. I believe gamers are usually socially awkward; nerds with not many people accepting them as friends in society or even in their neighborhoods. This leads to their exclusion and ridicule by their classmates, friends, and to be specific, the opposite gender. Unable to cope with this frustration, they vent it out in their online gaming sessions. All the pent-up testosterone and frustration fuels this inhuman behavior. For example, if there is a skilled sniper called “smartgirl90” that is the end. She will not be able to help her teammates because they will not believe for the first half that she is a girl. I think that in a male dominated game although another teammate called “troxanowarrior” may well also be a girl nevertheless, the team would not know for sure, and so they continue to bully and harass the one obvious girl.

Q. What do you feel about the evolution of gaming in terms of content? 

A. I feel the content of games has improved vastly from when I was the age my children are now.  Back then, games lacked realism, nowadays they are verging on photorealism, soon will come ultra-realism, after that who knows. 

Q. What do you feel about the evolution of gaming in terms of content?
A. In search of bigger, better graphics and gameplay, we left behind the simple, classic, and amusing appeal of video games as a basic entertainment.

Q. Do you feel you are missing out on key aspects of your life due to gaming?

A. On the contrary, some games give me a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. This experience varies from one gamer to another.

Q. Does gaming help you meet, or deters you from your full potential?

A. In my case, gaming is not influencing my potential, unless I am playing a game like Chess, which boosts my cognitive capabilities.   

Sources:

McGonigal, J. (2008). ‘’The game that can give you 10 extra years of life’’ Retrieved from <https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_give_you_10_extra_years_of_life

> viewed (21/10/2020  GOOGLE)

McGonigal, J. (2010) ‘’Why we are better in games than we are in real life’’ Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world?language=en#t-396858

>  viewed  17/10/2020 GOOGLE)

Rense, S. (2017) Playing Video Games could help prevent Alzimer’s. Retrieved from <https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/health/a14379049/video-games-prevent-alzheimers/Dec,7,2017> viewed 20/10/2020

ATKINS, R. ArtSpeak: A Guide to Contemporary Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords, 1945 to the Present. New York / London: (2013) Abbeville Press Publishers.

>  viewed  18/10/2020 GOOGLE)

ATKINS, B. More than a game, the computer game as fictional form, (2003) Manchester University Press.

>  viewed  17/10/2020 GOOGLE)

GRIFFITH, M. Education and Health. Vol 20.3 (2002)

>  viewed  17/10/2020 Academia)

GOUVEIA, P. Fiction and Embrodiment Augmented reality, (2008) Phd thesis, University Nova of Lisbon. 

>Viewed 19/10/20 Academia)

GUNTHER, B. Psychological Effects of Video Games in Handbook of Computer Game Studies, (edit Joost Raessens & Jeffrey Goldstein), (2005) Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, pp. 145-60.

>Viewed 18/10/2020

MEADOWS, M. S. I, Avatar, The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life, (2008) New Riders. 18/10/2020 google)

MATHIAS, J. Everything I Shoot Is Art. (2012) Brescia.

>Viewed 18/10/2020 GOOGLE)

Post Write:

Did this assignment remind you of any writing that you’ve done previously?  Please describe that work.  

Like the previous paper it involved extensive reading.

What was new about this assignment?  Please be precise. 

I’ve done extensive research and reading for this assignment and also I found the necessity for some field work.

What kinds of knowledge/writing skills did you draw on to produce this draft?  Please begin to use some of the key terms that have begun to form the basis of your theory of writing.  For example, did you draw upon your understanding of audience awareness or genre?  How so?   

For this paper there was a lot of information of value for adults, emerging young adult gamers, parents, and children. Some that do not like video games will also benefit from this paper, because this information allows one to reflect on how game technology has intervened in the community.

When drafting and revising, what choices did you make? Please explain.

My concern when presenting this work was to inform the best I could base on the gathered sources and available information on the matter.

What questions do you have for readers about the piece?

Has your mind change regarding any video game genre? If so, why?

In response to Alyssa Please indicate TWO questions about the draft:

1. How did you find the people you interviewed? A: The subjects are friends that for many years now enjoy the benefits of videogaming.
2. How would you say video games are a negative influence? A: They are if they are in excess. One should consider the age ratings and above all else handle videogames with respect and care.